Evaluating Sam Darnold’s winning Week 12 performance

There isn’t a much better way to make an impression in your first start than to come out with a much needed win against a good defense. And that is exactly what Carolina Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold did against the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

Even despite his disappointing 2021 campaign and delayed start to his 2022, there was a lot of quiet optimism surrounding Darnold going into this game. With a revamped offensive line and a different style of coaching, perhaps he could show a glimpse of the talented product the organization thought they were getting when they traded for him last year.

In this Week 12 matchup, the defenses were the focal point for both teams—so Darnold was tasked with managing the game and sprinkling in some splash plays. And if that was indeed the case, he executed that game plan to near perfection.

Minus a few late reads and inaccurate passes, the often frantic quarterback did not make any game-breaking errors. The young signal caller showed a lot of skillful movement on roll outs, his ability to throw on the move and a lot of touch on a live arm that stood out compared to the other quarterbacks Carolina had started prior.

Darnold finished the having completed 11 of his 19 attempts for a modest 164 yards, a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown. This was not much of a showcase of his talents—but what he was asked to do, he did well in a run-centric attack.

Now, we’ll see if Darnold has instilled enough confidence in interim head coach Steve Wilks, offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo and the rest of the coaching staff to allow for some more air action against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 14.

But, for now, we’re giving him a solid B+ for his admirable efforts in the 23-10 triumph.